You Found Me
by Kori Tetsugaia
Summary: Kiara has problems. Really, she does. What happens when she reveals her howling secret to a friend? A songfic, if you would. One chapter only.


**You Found Me**

_**

* * *

Is this a dream?  
**__**If it is  
**__**Please don't wake me from this high  
**__**I'd become comfortably numb  
**__**Until you opened up my eyes  
**__**To what it's like  
**__**When everything's right  
**__**I can't believe**_

_I can't go back to him just like that. He won't accept me for who… what I am._ Bitter thoughts erupted from a young girl's head. Her name was Kiara, and she had run away from her friend after she told him what she was. Promptly, he had rejected her, telling her to "get away from me". Tears cascaded from her eyes as she ran from him, dropping her bow, and tearing across the land in anger, sorrow. And now, she had ended up in the outskirts of the Ellinian forest.

Kiara was nestled in a small hollow in an upright tree, still thriving. It seemed as if it were a shelter made for a person who needed it. And right now, Kiara was the person who needed it.

"It's not fair. It's not fair… he's so cruel… and to think… I had feelings for him…" Kiara muttered, hugging her knees to her chest, with sobs racking her whole body.

It all began when Kiara had decided to tell all to her friend, Xhaiden, about her… endowment. In truth, she was actually cursed with it, when she had followed her friend in El Nath to the werewolves and lycanthropes. If you guessed she was half-werewolf, you were very much right. She had the power to change to and from her werewolf form. She had pleaded with Xhaiden to accept her, but he shunned her, turning her away.

_**You found me  
**__**When no one else was lookin'  
**__**How did you know just where I would be?  
**__**Yeah, you broke through  
**__**All of my confusion  
**__**The ups and the downs  
**__**And you still didn't leave  
**__**I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
**__**You found me  
**__**You found me**_

Suddenly, Kiara's sharp ears picked up incessant shouting from afar.

"Kiara! Kiara, where are you? Kiara!"

She immediately recognized the voice as Xhaiden's.

_No! He can't see me like this… but… but why is he coming after me?_

With an abrupt start, she noticed that it had begun to rain. First, it was light and drizzly, slightly dampening everything. Then, gradually, it had rained down harder and harder as the skies darkened with sad-looking gray and black-shaded storm clouds. Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed.

_I'm glad it's raining. That way, nobody will be able to see my tears._ She poked her head out the tree hollow for a moment, letting the rain drip on her face.

_**So, here we are  
**__**That's pretty far  
**__**When you think of where we've been  
**__**No going back  
**__**I'm fading out  
**__**All that has faded me within  
**__**You're by my side  
**__**Now everything's fine  
**__**I can't believe**_

The rain had always soothed her soul, and it always worked. Kiara realized with a start about Xhaiden.

_Where is he? He can't still be looking for me in this storm, can he?!_ Kiara thought frantically. Crawling out of the tree hollow, she looked around in the storm, but the downpour clouded her vision. The fact that there were so many trees growing didn't help at all. Although, as part-werewolf, she couldn't pick out his scent with her acute nose because of the rain washing away whatever trace was there anyway.

There was only one way to find Xhaiden, but she hadn't tried it before, only learned about it.

_Is it time?_ she thought numbly. Another voice entered her mind.

"_Yes. Yes, it is time. He loves you, as much as you love him. So go, go find him."_

Kiara trusted the voice with all of her heart, and, in the midst of a lightning flash, she began to chant quietly.

"I call unto the spirits of the wise wolves to help me find the thing I need most, the thing I want to have. And so I ask you, spirits of the wolves, to find my love, find my love, THE ONE I NEED THE MOST!" With the last six words, a white wolf began to appear before her. The visibility of the wolf in the shadowy storm was like a single white button in the midst of a thousand black buttons; clear as a beacon. She bowed to the wolf, on her knees, water dripping down her neck. The wolf began to speak.

"You have called upon our power to locate your loved one, have you not?" the wolf inquired in a soft, gentle voice. Kiara nodded, still bowing her head low. The wolf began to run from Kiara, leaping across few a few logs that tumbled down, and towards what looked like a dark lump underneath a tree. Kiara stood and began to rush towards the lump, eyes widening as she recognized it as Xhaiden's limp body on the underside of a fallen tree.

_**You found me  
**__**When no one else was lookin'  
**__**How did you know just where I would be?  
**__**Yeah, you broke through  
**__**All of my confusion  
**__**The ups and the downs  
**__**And you still didn't leave  
**__**I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
**__**You found me  
**__**You found me**_

Tears madly stung Kiara's eyes as she tried to pry Xhaiden from under the tree. But with only her human strength, and the wetness of the water soaking into the tree, making it slippery, she could not lift the log off of him. The white wolf, who had been previously watching her before, caringly nudged her with its snout, and said,

"You cannot be a human and lift the tree. Become a werewolf, and then we will see about the tree."

Kiara's eyes watered even more, but she complied, wanting with all of her heart to be able to save Xhaiden.

_If this is what it takes, then I'll do it,_ she thought determinedly. She closed her eyes, and began to focus.

Thick, midnight black fur began to grow from her skin, and her hands and feet grew wicked claws. Her nose elongated into a snout, and her eyes narrowed and turned a dark hue of blood red. A tail sprouted from her tailbone, and her human ears reformed as wolf ears at the top of her head. Standing on her hind legs now, Kiara growled softly.

Kiara could not resist this one feeling of power, a feeling of being able to face down anything. She tilted her head back, and let out a long, terrifying, bone-chilling howl. The fearsome sound bounced off the trees, making the howl last longer than it should have.

Turning back to Xhaiden, she took her claws and dug them under the tree, and with a mighty yank, tossed the tree off Xhaiden. The fallen tree landed with a nearly seismic 'THUD' a couple hundred feet away.

Picking up Xhaiden tenderly, she turned to the white wolf and grunted her thanks. The wolf gave a 'wolfish' smile.

"Think of it as nothing. I was only doing my best to help a halfling. For now, farewell my dear Kiara. Perhaps we shall see eachother again someday." With those last words, the white wolf faded away. The only thing left of it was a necklace with a wolf's tooth on it. Kiara picked it up, and quickly began to dart away with Xhaiden in her arms.

_**And I was hiding  
**__**'Til you came along  
**__**And showed me where I belong  
**__**You found me  
**__**When no one else was lookin'  
**__**How did you know?  
**__**How did you know?**_

_Don't worry, Xhaiden. You're safe with me._

Kiara entered a moderately empty area, filled only with a few trees, with a single house built in the protection of a nest of pines and foliage. It had been long abandoned before, but was kept in great shape because of the magic of restoration in the Ellinia trees. Kiara quickly set Xhaiden down on the porch of the house and shook the water off her fur. She swiftly began to change into her half-form, which included ears and a tail, acute senses, and super-strength. Opening the door, she entered the house while picking up Xhaiden also. She headed towards a room which she knew had four large beds in it, and tenderly set Xhaiden down on a bed. Pulling up a chair, she sat beside him, watching him breathe.

He looked so innocent like that, and Kiara knew it. Kiara bent down to his face.

"Wake up," she whispered into his ear. Kiara heard his breathing quicken ever so slightly, but even then she knew he was awake.

Xhaiden's eyes cracked open, just to see Kiara's face hovering inches away from his face. Unbeknownst to him, he was turning a shade of light red. Kiara smiled at him warmly.

"Good, you're awake." Kiara whispered, hugging Xhaiden's body to hers. She felt Xhaiden tense up, but then awkwardly hug her back.

"Why did you do that?" Kiara murmured.

"You acted as if you hated what I was."

Xhaiden spoke softly,

"I'm sorry, Kiara. I truly am. But I didn't like werewolves, because years ago, my parents were killed by them."

Kiara felt something wet fall onto her shoulder, and knew Xhaiden was crying at the memory.

"Shh, shh, it's okay Xhai," she chided gently, using Xhaiden's nickname from their childhood.

_**You found me  
**__**When no one else was lookin'  
**__**How did you know just where I would be?  
**__**Yeah, you broke through  
**__**All of my confusion  
**__**The ups and the downs  
**__**And you still didn't leave  
**__**I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
**__**You found me**_

They were together like that for an amount of time, holding eachother tightly. It was a while before they let eachother go.

"Thank you for saving me when the tree fell on me, Ki," Xhaiden said, also using Kiara's nickname, and holding onto Kiara's hand tightly.

"It isn't a problem, and I did it because I love you." Kiara admitted. Xhaiden blushed, and muttered something.

"I love you too, Ki. Always have, and always will." And with that, Xhaiden leaned in and kissed Kiara's lips gently. Kiara could not help but kiss back, melting into the kiss immediately.

"You found me, Xhai. You found me." Kiara whispered tenderly.

_**(You found me)  
**__**(When no one else was lookin')  
**__**You found me  
**__**(How did you know just where I would be?)  
**__**You broke through  
**__**All of my confusion  
**__**The ups and the downs  
**__**And you still didn't leave  
**__**I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
**__**The good and the bad  
**__**And the things in between  
**__**You found me  
**_**_You found me…_**

* * *

It's the ending, peoples! I hope you enjoyed it, and I also hope it wasn't overly mushy towards the end. Leave a review, if you would! Also, song is by Kelly Clarkson. 


End file.
